Chapter 37: Little Lucky Charm
Don’t say his speed is quite fast.
Just as he was about to slip out, darkness suddenly fell before his eyes.
The kidnapper leader’s sinister smile hadn’t even faded when he looked up and saw a large head with horns expanding in his vision.
With a ‘duang’ sound, the kidnapper leader was knocked back.
He fell to the ground, completely seeing stars.
Everyone: ………
“Is this thing your leader? If not, what was he thinking, did he really think those two legs could outrun our horses?”
Other kidnappers: ………
They also didn’t know what their leader was thinking.
Now, not only did they fail to escape, but they also lost so much face and suffered for nothing.
“These cattle, sheep, and horses are really good, where did they come from?”
This was like a delivery straight to their doorstep, and they hadn’t even thought of running away yet, the cattle and sheep were even lowering their heads to graze.
The horses are even more beautiful; such a fine horse would be worth at least two hundred taels of silver each, and it’s not easy to buy.
They guarded against the Tartars, forbidding the Central Plains’ salt and iron resources from being sold to them, and the Tartars likewise guarded against them, controlling most of the good grassland horses and not allowing them to be sold to Central Plains people.
Qin Wanwan actively raised her little hand: “Me, me, me, I picked them up.”
A few people dismounted to tie up the kidnappers, while the others asked with laughter.
“So Wanwan is so amazing, where did you pick them up from?”
Yin Yuanli watched them ask in a joking tone and knew they didn’t believe her.
Xie Chong believed her.
Qin Wanwan lifted her little chin proudly: “I snatched them from the kidnappers!”
She was very powerful.
Speaking of which, the kidnapper leader, whose head wasn’t as dizzy, cried miserably.
“Wuwuwu… my horses, my cattle and sheep…”
“You are too shameless; we treated that child well with food and drink, and then she turned around and ran off with our horses, how despicable!”
He cried with snot and tears, looking quite pitiful.
But no one sympathized; the warrior tying him up kicked him.
“Who are you calling despicable and shameless? Don’t you have any idea what you did, shut up for me.”
After speaking, he directly rolled up a sweat towel and stuffed it into his mouth.
“Daddy Keke?”
Qin Wanwan, holding her biological father’s neck, looked around with her little head but couldn’t find her good friend Keke.
Xie Chong touched his nose with a hint of guilt: “He’s behind.”
Keke flew slowly, mainly because he had flown all night.
Upon receiving the news, Xie Chong mounted his horse and began to gallop, leaving the bird behind.
Keke flew back with difficulty and burst into tears upon seeing Qin Wanwan.
“Wanwan, your daddy is too much, how could he abandon a bird and run off!”
Qin Wanwan stroked Keke’s feathers, her little eyes glancing at her daddy.
Xie Chong: “Ahem, I was in a bit of a hurry.”
Seeing the red bloodshot in her daddy’s eyes and his beard unkempt, Qin Wanwan couldn’t bear to blame him.
Qin Wanwan touched her daddy’s handsome face with her little chubby hands and nuzzled his neck.
“Daddy is tired.”
Xie Chong felt warm inside; this daughter of his was truly wonderful.
Yin Yuanli stared at Keke: A talking bird, how strange.
Although he thought so, he felt that there was nothing surprising about it in his heart.
“Let’s hurry back and rescue the other children.”
Xie Chong was not one to waste words; he left two people to take the kidnappers and the cattle, sheep, and horses back, while the rest went directly to the kidnappers’ stronghold.
The border army on horseback was much faster.
Sitting in her daddy’s arms, feeling the wind on her cheeks, Qin Wanwan was not afraid, holding Keke with bright eyes.
Upon arrival, they charged into the village with their weapons; those who resisted were killed, and those who didn’t were captured.
These people would be taken back to work as laborers to repair the wall!
“General, all the male inhabitants of the entire village were killed, the children were sold to the Tartars, and some women were kept tied up in their homes by them.”
Those women’s minds were already unstable; some, as soon as they were released, crazily picked up stones and hurled them at the kidnappers.
Some committed suicide directly; they couldn’t stop them, and the scene was tragic.
Xie Chong’s eyes were cold: “Take these people to repair the wall and give them only one meal a day until they drop dead from exhaustion.”
“Yes!”
Qin Wanwan wasn’t there; Xie Chong, fearing the bloodshed, placed her in the kidnappers’ main hall.
The people there had all been cleared out, and two people were left to protect her safety.
Yin Yuanli was there, even watching the bloody scene with an unflustered expression.
“Crown Prince, General, the children have been found.”
“Take us there.”
A total of sixteen children, the oldest no more than six years old, including children of beggars, villagers, and even children from wealthy families who were dressed better.
Yin Yuanli’s tender voice carried a sense of calm: “Buyers will come this afternoon to take them away. General Xie, why don’t you have your men change into the kidnappers’ clothes and play their game to catch those people.”
Xie Chong: As expected of the Crown Prince, only five years old, his mind works quite quickly.
“This subordinate was thinking the same thing.”
The border soldiers quickly cleaned up the village and even threatened some of the kidnappers with families, forcing them to cooperate by promising to spare their families.
Some of the kidnappers, who still had some conscience, or rather, only had conscience for their own family members, knew they would die but were willing to cooperate to save their families.
After everything was arranged, Xie Chong went to find Qin Wanwan.
Upon entering the hall, he didn’t find her, and his expression changed.
“Wanwan!”
“Daddy, Daddy, I’m here.”
Xie Chong frowned, followed the sound, and found a hole under the table at the very back of the hall, just large enough for one person.
As he walked over, Qin Wanwan’s little head popped out.
Her originally snow-white and clean little face was dirty again.
She was being held by a warrior.
“General, there’s a secret room here, filled with the kidnappers’ property and grain.”
Another soldier carried out a wooden box.
“This box is filled with silver ingots.”
They hadn’t looted as much as from the bandits, but this box still contained three thousand taels of silver.
“There’s also some salt and grain fodder; they were likely here to trade with the grassland tribes.”
The grassland tribes were nomadic people; they didn’t lack meat but lacked salt and grain.
Because the prices were high, and those good horses were basically only found in grasslands, there were always some profit-seeking merchants willing to take the risk.
Since the kidnapper leader dared to commit the heinous act of child trafficking, he naturally wouldn’t let go of this profit.
If the regulations weren’t so strict and he had the means, he would even dare to sell iron to the grasslands.
“Daddy, Daddy, I found it, Wanwan found it, and Xiao Hei too!”
Qin Wanwan was carried out of the secret room by Xie Chong and began to boast.
Xie Chong wiped the dust off her little face with a handkerchief.
“Daddy, am I amazing, praise me quickly.”
The little girl was not modest at all, her eyes sparkling as she looked at him.
Xie Chong’s lips curved into a small, subtle arc.
“Yes, amazing, you’re a lucky charm.”
It was indeed a blessing; ever since he inexplicably gained such a beautiful daughter, his army’s food rations improved, their equipment got better, and even he was no longer so poor.
Qin Wanwan smiled proudly.
